DNA and Mocrochips
by Ktkat9
Summary: Whether they liked it or not, they were family. And the fact that one of them was not even technically alive could be overlooked. After all, blood is thicker than water, but love is thicker than blood.


Maybe it was pity. Maybe he saw himself in the other. Or maybe, just maybe, it had something to do with the fact that, like it or not, they were family. Seto Kaiba, however, insisted that none of these were the case. He had simply needed a hand on some difficult software and found an extra set of willing and able eyes.

Yyyyy

Noa Kaiba didn't know why Seto had let him in, but he wasn't complaining. To have someone to talk to after all those years alone, well, the teen knew it was more than he deserved after the whole Virtual Reality incident.

After things had died down enough, the first thing Seto had done following their escape from his island was to get on a computer and locate him. The two had talked off and on, and gradually put aside their differences. Not completely, but it was a start.

At the moment, the teen (Seto had helped alter his software so that he actually appeared to be the age he was, instead of the age he'd been when his body had died.) was on his way into the Kaiba mansion systems. The two had worked out a schedule to meet up and collaborate on various projects. The CEO had always made sure to leave a virtual backdoor for him to enter through with out in turn allowing any basement hacker to also gain access to his systems.

"That's odd." Noa mused, noticing that his way was not as clear as it usually was. In fact, the path was completely blocked. "Wonder what's up." Not exactly wanting to stick around where he obviously wasn't needed, he turned and left. Seto was probably busy and didn't want to be distracted.

Yyyyy

"You came." Seto's monotone voice greeted him the next day. There was hardly any more expression than usual, but Noa was able to detect a bit of iciness.

"You don't sound surprised." The teal-haired teen had once again found his way blocked by that same program. This time, though, he had bypassed it in order to find out just what his stepbrother hoped to accomplish by locking him out.

"You typically come around this time." The brunette looked up at him, not glaring, just staring. "Is there any reason you didn't yesterday?"

"What?" Noa blinked in surprise. "You mean it wasn't you who locked me out?"

"No. Why would I?"

"That's what I was going to ask you today. There was a security program enabled to keep me out. It wasn't much, but I figured that if you were busy, I wouldn't bother you."

Seto frowned and turned to his work computer. (He had set up anther one in both his home and work offices just for Noa.) "Let me take a look. It may be a glitch in the security systems." Several minutes of tapping later, they were examining the remains of a simple yet somewhat effective virtual blockade. "This is too advanced to be a glitch. We may have an inside hacker." Seto thought over his options for a minute. If it were one of the staff, he would have to up the screening process for new hires greatly. If this was an attempt to prevent the two oldest Kaiba's from collaborating, it could mean that a competitor not only knew of the other's existence, but also felt threatened by them. Threatened people in his line of business rarely let things go without a fight. If the culprit wasn't found soon, things could turn ugly. He sighed. "I'll run a trace to see if I can find out whose computer it originated from. You can go back to your virtual world now. I've got things well in hand and will let you know if I find anything." He was aware that the computer genius had been rebuilding a place to live. His own little virtual world.

"Are you sure?" Noa replied, not liking the obvious dismissal. "I might be able to help."

"Thanks, but I don't want anyone but me going through mine and Mokuba's home security. You can help by letting my focus."

" . . . Fine." Just more proof that this house was no longer his home.

Yyyyy

"Mokuba, can I come in?" Seto called through his brother's door later that day.

"Yeah, come on in." The teen greeted him with a smile.

Seto didn't return it. "Do you know of anyone being in your room lately?"

Mokuba blinked in surprise and instinctively looked around his room. Had they had a break in? "No. Why?"

The brunette sighed and sat down on the bed. "Someone tried to lock Noa out of our house. I traced it back to your computer. Now, do you know anyone outside of the two of us that has access to this room?"

Mokuba paused, eyes wide. Had Seto even considered that the young hacker might have had something to do with it? Nervously, he swallowed and choked out his reply. "N-no. I can't think of anyone."

His elder brother nodded. "Let me know if you notice anything out of the ordinary."

"Alright."

Seto patted his head and left to finish up a few things. Noa would need a more secure route in, for one. And then there was all of the work that had been piling up on top of that. He never saw the crushed look on Mokuba's face when he realized that his brother was not staying.

Yyyyy

" _Ow!_ What the heck?" Noa jerked back and examined the new obstacle in his path. Another block had been installed, but this one had been upgraded with a virus. Anyone who tried to bypass it would get infected. Sighing in annoyance, Noa just decided to make his own route and hack directly into his stepbrother's computer. Something was going on and he intended to find out what. There was no way that a competitor skilled enough to find out that Noa was alive and well (for the most part) inside a computer program would leave such mediocre traps. No. They had to be missing something.

"Did you have any trouble getting in this time?" Seto sounded unsurprised when he suddenly appeared.

"Yeah. Whoever this is tried to plant a virus in my way." He huffed and calmed down. Anger never solved anything. Well, anything computer related, anyway. "Speaking of which, did you find out who it could be?"

Seto remained silent for a moment. He knew how it would sound, but he also knew his brother. He would never purposefully sabotage anything related to Kaibacorp. But Noa wanted an answer, and he couldn't lie. "I traced the hack back to the laptop in Mokuba's room. He says he doesn't know who could have accessed it to keep you out."

There was dead silence from the digitized teen. "It doesn't sound like you considered him as a suspect."

"He didn't do it."

"Really? How do you know? He could have-,"

Seto slammed his hands down on the desk and stood, knocking his chair back. " _I know my brother!_ I know he would never do anything like this! If he says he doesn't know how the block got there, then he doesn't know!"

" . . . Did you ask him if he knew how the block got there, or just if he knew which maid is actually an undercover double agent?" Noa asked blankly. He didn't even wait for the angered CEO's response. His expression had told him everything he needed to know.

"Noa. Noa! Goddammit." Seto cursed the blank screen. He couldn't deny that the teen had had a point, but that in no way meant that Mokuba was the guilty one. Taking a deep breath to calm him down, much like Noa had done just minutes earlier, Seto prepared to have another talk with his brother. Just to make sure. He knew that the boy hadn't been telling him everything, but hadn't thought much of it at the time. If it had been important, surely he would have said something.

Yyyyy

When he'd signed off, Noa hadn't gone home. No. He had decided to check out Mokuba on his own. He accessed the teens laptop, and found himself mildly surprised when he realized that it was open and on, but not in use. He entered and looked around. Seated on the edge of the bed was a familiar figure, but something seemed off. He was reading something. A book. Noa wasn't able to see the cover from his angle, but he could make out some of the diagrams on the page. It appeared to be a book on hacking. The kid was already fairly skilled, which had been one of the reasons Noa had been surprised that Seto hadn't even considered him, but this book looked to involve much more advanced hacks, if the notebook he was scribbling in was anything to go by.

As he watched, Mokuba would write something, then read a bit more, then go back to erase what he'd just written and replace it with something else. As this went on, the digital genius noticed something else odd. Every now and then, the younger boy would stop to rub his sleeve across his face. Noa narrowed his eyes. He recognized that motion. He remembered doing it himself back when he had a body. He had done it whenever he was . . . crying. Mokuba was crying.

He remained silent for a minute longer before making his presence known. "What are you working on?"

In any other situation, his reaction would have been comical. He jumped, accidently sending his book, notebook, and pen to the floor, and whirled around to face his computer. As soon as he registered who was there, his expression morphed into one of pure hatred. "What are you doing in my room?" He snarled.

"I was going to ask you myself if you knew anything about who has been trying to keep me out. I see I've found my answer." He glanced at the mess on the floor.

Mokuba jerked as if slapped. "Just who do you think you are coming into my room and accusing me of-,"

"Save it. You're a smart kid. What other alternative could there be? You were doing your homework?"

Mokuba grit his teeth, and looked away. After a minute, though, the words couldn't be held in any longer. "I was trying to keep you out so you would stop taking my brother from me!"

" . . . What?" Noa was taken aback, but, apparently, once Mokuba had let that slip, everything just came tumbling out at once.

"You kidnapped us! Tried to get your little cronies to take our bodies! You-you tried to make me hate my big brother, for crying out loud! But for some reason, he doesn't see that! He thinks you're suddenly this great guy who wont ever turn on us again! I don't know what you did or said to him, but he doesn't see you the way I do. He thinks you've changed." He paused for a breath.

"I have changed. I really am sorry for-,"

"No you're not."

"What?"

"You're not _sorry_. If you were, you wouldn't be back here trying to separate us again! Seto is all that I have, and you're taking him away! You-you're feeding him lies or something to make him think you're different, but you're not." He broke off with a sob. "You can't be the good guy."

Noa sat there, staring as his stepbrother broke down in tears. Was he the bad guy? Now that he thought about it, maybe he was. But he hadn't been trying to be this time. This time, he had wanted to help. To atone for what he'd done. He had thought that helping Seto would be a start, but was it? He knew that the CEO already had very little time away from work to spend with his younger brother, but had he been taking that from him? Had Seto been spending less time with Mokuba because Noa was around?

"Mokuba. Is this true?" Both Noa and Mokuba whirled as the door opened. Seto stood there, unwavering stare fixed directly on his brother.

"Um . . . I-I . . ." The young hacker was at a loss of what to say. How long had he been there?

"Were you the one who tried to lock Noa out?" Seto rephrased, voice more stern than before.

" . . . Yes." He finally whispered, head hanging low.

"Why."

" . . ."

"Mokuba."

"I was my fault." Noa broke in, earning a surprised look from the youngest Kaiba.

"No, it wasn't. Mokuba, why didn't you come to me if you had a problem?"

The boy's head whipped around so fast he accidently hit himself in the face with his own hair. "C-come to you?" His expression was incredulous. "I can come to you if I have a problem. Really? _When?_ And what makes you think that I haven't already tried that?! It's always 'Later, Mokuba,' or 'I'm busy,' _Yeah!_ Busy with Noa! Look, I'm sorry I'm not as smart as him, but I'm trying! I'm _trying_!" He broke off with a sob and dropped his head in shame. "I've been studying as much as I can in my free time so that you can go to _me_ for help. We're supposed to rely on each other. But you went to him. You went to _him_ for help. _What makes him better than me?_ _I'm your brother!_ I-I'm your brother. So why am I not good enough?" He couldn't continue. Not anymore. He just sat there and let the sobs shake his entire body.

Seto stood there in shock. _Had_ he been neglecting Mokuba? And what was this about extra studying? The kid was only fourteen, for crying out loud. What was he trying to do, end up like . . . Seto was? Always working with no time for what was really important? His mind suddenly flashed back to how he used to be, right after taking over the company for himself. He'd been like a younger Gozaburo; hell bent on doing whatever it took to advance Kaibacorp. No. There was no way he was going to let Mokuba become anything like he was. That's why he had thought to have Noa give him a hand in the first place, so that Mokuba could have as much of a childhood as he could salvage.

"Mokuba." He walked over; heart breaking as he listened to the small sobs still coming from his brother. He sat on the bed and gathered the tiny body into his lap, holding him tightly when he instantly climbed right into his lap. "I'm sorry."

It was only after they had talked and understood and forgiven that either of them noticed that Mokuba's computer screen was blank. Noa was gone.

Yyyyy

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm a hacker. And I wanted to apologize."

Noa turned and gazed in surprise at the intruder. Mokuba was just a face on a screen in his virtual world, but that didn't mean he was any less surprised to see him there. "Apologize? For what?"

"Blaming you. And taking my anger out on you." The teen looked a bit embarrassed, but continued. "You were alone, and tuned your anger against us. Me and my brother, and Yugi and his friends. I should have realized that maybe you didn't have any ulterior motive. That, after all these years, maybe you really did just want some company. I'm sorry."

"I should be the one apolo-,"

"No, you shouldn't. I should have handled the situation better. You weren't trying to tear us apart. You were just trying to fit in. This was originally your house, anyway. We were the first intruders."

Noa smiled a bit. "It's not like you had much of a choice in the matter. Besides, I do need to apologize to you. I thought that helping Seto with his work would be good enough. I didn't realize that I was also ignoring you in the process. I, too, am sorry."

They sat there awkwardly for a minute, each unsure of how to continue the conversation now that apologies had been given and accepted. Until Mokuba broke the silence. "Soo, wanna see if there really _is_ a double agent maid? Maybe show the world why they shouldn't mess with the Kaiba brothers?"

Noa grinned widely. "You're on!"

Yyyyy

The next morning, every electronic device in the house appeared to have been tampered with in some way or another, and when Seto turned on his computer, all that popped up were pictures of himself and Mokuba growing up. There were some of Noa's childhood, as well, mixed in. The last several, though, were of Mokuba and Noa together, smiling. Seto sat there with a rare smile on his face. The two of them had made up, it seemed. Once it seemed like the slideshow was over, he reached out a hand to exit out of it, only to be stopped as words appeared across the screen.

 _Seto, don't worry. We talked and managed to get past our differences. Also, we locked you out of your computer for the day so you wouldn't have an excuse to not play with us. See you downstairs!_

Seto groaned and dropped his head into his hands.

Yyyyy

" _They say blood is thicker than water, but love is thicker than blood." –Garth Brooks_

Yyyyy

Done! You would not believe how long it took to write this! It was fun, though, so I can't complain. I just never expected it to go on for this long. Anyway, this was requested by littleditto, who was my 100th reviewer for my other story, House Rules! Review and let me know what you thought! :3


End file.
